2007 – Page 8

A significant real estate boom is under way in the Dominican Republic. According to Wilson Gomez Ramirez, director of the land registry, real estate sales were at RD$71 billion in 2002. In 2003, they had increased to RD$93 billion, to RD$121 billion in 2005, and RD$175 billion in 2006. Gomez forecasts a major leap this …

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The Ministry of Labor has announced the Official Calendar for 2008, and only two of the many holidays are being shifted during the year. There are thirteen holidays, according to Law 139-97, and the first one to be changed is International Labor Day, May 1st, which falls on a Thursday and will be shifted to …

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The new ambassadors from the United States of America, Switzerland and Mexico presented their credentials in ceremonies at the Presidential Palace yesterday. The US ambassador, Robert Fannin, talked with Dominican President Leonel Fernandez for some 20 minutes, in spite of the time pressures normal in these ceremonies. The new Mexican ambassador, Enrique Manuel Loeza Tovar, …

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The National Young Entrepreneurs Association (ANJE) has declared that the increase in government subsidies for propane gas (LPG) and electricity contained in the 2008 budget “goes against what should be an effort to reduce the subsidies.” ANJE president Joel Santos told reporters from El Caribe that as well as the subsidy increases for LPG and …

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The Senate has passed the RD$1.5 billion peso relief package suggested by President Fernandez for recovery efforts needed to repair the damage caused by last week’s Tropical Storm Olga. The bill was previously approved by the Chamber of Deputies and now goes to the President for his signature. The bill authorizes the President to transfer …

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The Agro-Business Board (JAD) has put a figure of RD$10.5 billion on the damage caused by Tropical Storms Noel and Olga. The figures were revealed during a press conference chaired by JAD president Francisco Dionis Fernandez who was assisted by fellow board members. According to the JAD, TS Noel caused damage to agriculture and related …

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The United States Embassy has announced a scholarship program aimed at helping poor students currently attending Dominican universities to study at a US university for up to a year. Rex Moser, the cultural attache at the embassy and education specialist Francesca Hernandez made the announcement during an interview with Huchi Lora and Nuria Piera on …

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The Pontifical Catholic University Madre y Maestra is hosting one of the workshops during the International Energy Week sponsored by the National Energy Commission. Energy Week is being held from 14-18 January 2008. The workshop at the PUCMM will feature as many as four lectures on alternative energy and a press conference. The announcement of …

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In the Carlos Diaz area of Tamboril the earth is giving way and sinking. More than 50 homes have been seriously damaged or destroyed, forcing many residents to seek shelter in schools and at the homes of relatives or friends. The sinking earth is to be found along a three-kilometer stretch of highway in Carlos …

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Plutarco Ernesto Gonzalez, the convicted murderer of noted humorist and songwriter Milton Pelaez, lost his appeal as the judges confirmed Gonzalez’s 14-year sentence for homicide. The court also confirmed the RD$4.0 million payment due to the Pelaez family. While lawyers for the Pelaez family argued for a 20-year sentence because the evidence indicated premeditated homicide, …

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